Readers won't believe what a blighted life I have led ... the opportunities missed ... the educational events neglected ... the everyday experiences bypassed. So it should come as no surprise that I had never been through an automatic car wash. Until last Thursday.
But there I was, in a friend's pick-up, staring ahead at the blue octopus arms and the bristles hiding at the rear.
Reading the many instructions.
Whoosh. A preliminary swipe of soap across the windshield. By a human, no less.
About to enter the realm of the blue octopus.
Into the maw.
Finally the big brushes at the sides get into the act.
A final rinse ...
And a big sign that says
thank you for our business. And one less experience that I have missed in my long life.
Readers won't believe what a blighted life I have led ... the opportunities missed ... the educational events neglected ... the everyday experiences bypassed. So it should come as no surprise that I had never been through an automatic car wash. Until last Thursday.
But there I was, in a friend's pick-up, staring ahead at the blue octopus arms and the bristles hiding at the rear.
Reading the many instructions.
Whoosh. A preliminary swipe of soap across the windshield. By a human, no less.
About to enter the realm of the blue octopus.
Into the maw.
Finally the big brushes at the sides get into the act.
A final rinse ...
And a big sign that says thank you for our business. And one less experience that I have missed in my long life.
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13 comments:
Going through the Automatic Car Wash is one of the great small joys of life, Granny J.
I'm so glad you got to experience it.
I do feel cleaner after reading this post.
It can be quite surreal in those washing machines.
Once, a friend of ours forgot to put his car in park, & since it was in drive, it was 'panel beaten as it rushed through the process, to end up crossing a busy road, & crashing into a private fence!
Now this is a true adventure story! It had an "Orpheus in the Underworld" flavor to it. I'm glad you safely emerged "on the other side."
That looks just plain scary! :) Glad you made it through, and with great pictures to boot.
I see children's book potential in this post... "and the octopus with thousands of blue tentacles slowly swallowed up granny and her car..." Fun.
mark.
k -- welcome back! Oh, yes, it was absolutely fascinating. LH & I always left the car dusty, as we had no uptight places to visit.
steve -- and so you are!
meggie -- now that was a proper adventure...
boonie -- BTW, I didn't look back.
tombo -- I'll bet it's an everyday experience that has never (oh, well, almost never) been documented.
mark -- not without a fight from granny, I'll have you know.
I had never considered the potential of photographing the "inside" of a car wash before.
Glad you enjoyed the experience.
Whenever I have used my local wash I always end up going home and re-washing the car to catch the parts the wash missed - so I have stopped using them.
avus -- looking back on the experience, I'm sure I could make it a lot scarier!
I too, feel damp! I think the first time I had this experience was with your dad, my GP! FNFM
FNFM -- I don't think I could stand the experience if it happened in the humid 2/3 of the country. That's one great advantage of "it's a dry climate."
One of the great joys of my childhood. Shared after a long gap with my spouse, as we sit in our own car, and giggle inside the artificial, sudsy, hurricane.
zhoen -- I fear my late husband would have scoffed at a trip through the car wash as fruitless, as we would be driving through quite the usual amount of dust the very next day. It does look a bit like some sort of amusement park ride, doesn't it. A cheap ride, at that, as it is so short.
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